CC 2554 Deck Shoulder Screw Sheared

[cager]

I have a '05 CC 2554. 52 hours. While mowing, the shoulder screw which holds the ball wheel (right rear) on the deck sheared off from the castor axle.
My neighbor was using it to mow my yard when it happened (recently had surgery and not able to mow it myself). Not faulting him as he has mowed for me a couple times already and thoroughly enjoys mowing with this fine machine. He hit a root and next thing he knew, the ball wheel was laying on the ground. He really felt bad but I told him not to worry about it.

Couple questions:
I have the deck height adjusted so that the deck rides on the ball wheels when mowing to avoid deck sway. I have to assume the deck weight and contact with the ground creates a lot of stress on those wheels and the shoulder screws. Is this a correct assumption?

Also, I'm wondering if these rear screws are designed to shear off when coming in contact with an immovable object since they remain in a fixed position vs the front wheels which swivel. Is this correct?

Any insight from you machinist out there will be appreciated!

 

[bermuda_ken]

If you look at how the deck wheel bolt is made, it is made to "shear". The smooth "neck" of the bolt is much larger in diameter than the threaded area of the bolt. The area where the step down in diameter occurs is the spot where they break. The bolt will ALWAYS break in this area.

Running the deck with the wheels on the ground all of the time only adds more stress to the bolts and leads to thier early demise. If you "hang" the deck from the tractor allowing the wheels to contact the ground only when an uneven spot is incurred, the deck wheel life will be greatly increased.

 

[cager]

Thank you Bermuda Ken...

 

[stevebig]

I'm not sure if the 05 model is the same as my 06 model for the mower deck anti-scalp wheels. But I had a similar problem with the entire bracket that holds the wheel in the back of the mower break the weld when I was turning around a tree and hit a root. I don't have any bolts just a pin with the ball bearing at the end that holds the wheel assembly to the bracket.

Since the breakage I agree with bermuda_ken that you should keep them off the ground pretty much. I have mine set about 1-2" below the bottom of the deck and when I cut I leave about 3 1/2-4" of grass remaining. For one if you leave them on the ground I would think that hitting all the bumps in the yard with the small wheels on the deck would cause a rougher cut rather than having only the large wheels rolls over the bumps.

 

[cager]

Thanks stevebig !

I think I will be adjusting the deck to allow it to hang from the tractor to allow the wheels touching the ground ever so slightly.

 

[magicalj]

The manual for my LT 2180 says that you should set them 1/2 inch from the ground, with your deck set at your mowing height.

AJ

 

[JSharp]

I wondered about this when I got my 2554 since the manual says to set the wheels for ground contact at the selected mowing height. It does seem like the wheels take a lot of beating, but that's their job. I have to think they'll be much cheaper to replace when needed than any of the deck lift mechanism parts that don't look any too heavy for dragging a deck of that size around all the time...

 

[micman32]

I was looking in my manuel and it says "deck should not ride on wheels."

 

[Fordlords]

Some opinions differ, but they are made to be anti-scuff wheels, and the decks are designed to float during operation. I set the wheels up on pavement, and with the deck at my cutting position I put the front and rear wheels in the hole where they come closest to the ground without contacting it. Then when you mow over uneven terrian they won't allow the deck to go any lower than where you have them set.

OK, you CAN run with them riding on the ground all the time, but then instead of the deck leveling to the ground off the tractor it will level off the terrain you are mowing. The wheels are inexpensive to replace, and MTD/Arnold makes at least the rear deck wheels in many sizes out of metal with ball bearings in them that will hold out longer than the plastic jobs that come on the tractor. I used the metal ones on my 682 as the stock plastic ones were just too cheesy looking

-Fordlords-

 

[JSharp]

I was looking in my manuel and it says "deck should not ride on wheels."

I think it's different with different width and styles of decks. Exact words from my 2554 manual under deck leveling adjustment -

The 54" mower deck is equipped with ground following front castor wheels and is designed to run on its wheels.

Then later under Cutting Height Adjustment -

When using the 54" cutting deck, all four ball wheels should contact the ground. Therefore the cutting height is adjusted by raising or lowering the ball wheels.

The wheels do take a beating if you have rough stuff you're mowing. I'm noticing wear on mine already in only 25 hours. The flipside is the deck mows so nice with them set that way it's hard to see why I'd want ot change anything.

The wheels aren't too expensive. I'm going to leave mine and just write them off as replacement items when needed.